Hula hooping is a fun and low-impact form of exercise that can provide a variety of health benefits. Of course there are the benefits that you are probably aware of that you can acquire through hooping and general exercise. In this article I want to dive even deeper and tell you about exciting benefits that are specific to hula hooping.
Let’s learn about the benefits of hula hooping from Professional Hula Hooper, Bee Varga.
For this article, I consulted my mentor, Bee Varga who is not just a mum and expert hula hooper, but also has many more qualifications including:
- Hula Hoop Instructor
- Olympic Weightlifting Instructor
- Kettlebell Coach
- Personal Trainer
- Freestyle Jump Rope Instructor
- Fitness Instructor
- Holistic Massage Therapist
- Cupping Therapist
- Access To Osteopathic Healthcare
Bee is a professional hooper who has traveled internationally since 2008 both to perform on stage and teach. She is a highly skilled and passionate performer / teacher who is down to earth, and extremely knowledgeable about fitness and wellness. When I asked her what her favorite benefits of hula hooping she told me the following.
Join Bee’s Hooping Studio today by clicking on this link!
What are the benefits of hula hooping?
- Hula Hooping is a workout for your skin.
- Active stress management.
- A fun and extremely gentle workout that doesn’t feel like work. Hooping is kind to your joints.
- Hooping improves posture, balance, and alignment.
- You receive instant feedback from your hoop. Hula hooping can reveal your imbalances and show you what you need to strengthen.
- Boosts metabolism and builds lean muscle mass.
1- Hula Hooping is a workout for your skin.
Did you know that hula hooping can make your skin look firmer and younger? Hooping provides a firm, toning massage. Your skin may turn a bit red wherever the hoop is spun. This is a good sign because the hoop is stimulating and manipulating your connective tissue. As a result, there is an increase of blood flow in that area and you will have a lot more oxygen and nutrients available for those cells.
Hula Hooping encourages your body to produce more collagen and elastin.
Collagen is a protein that is responsible for the firmness and structure of your skin. Elastin is also a protein that makes it possible for your skin to stretch and return to its original shape. If you’ve had a baby, or lost some weight, or want to improve your skin tone, hula hooping will provide an effective workout for your connective tissue which will improve the appearance of your skin.
*In addition to hooping around your waist, try spinning the hoop around your hands, arms, legs, hips, and even feet!
2- Active stress management.
Did you know that you can fine tune your active stress management with rocking? We rock our babies to sleep, but this motion is also very beneficial for adults. For most hooping moves, we utilize a rocking motion to keep our hula hoop spinning. Rocking is extremely beneficial for you because it stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system. This helps us to saturate our cells in endorphins which are calming, good feeling hormones. There aren’t many workouts that encourage us to practice rocking. Hula hooping is a fun and easy way to acquire this amazing stress melting benefit.
Give your nervous system a vacation with hooping meditation.
Isn’t it amazing that practicing this rocking motion can give us a moment to switch off and forget about the stress and trouble we are dealing with? If you feel like life is a little overwhelming and your nervous system needs a vacation, give hula hooping a try.
Meditation, mindfulness, and yoga are often recommended for stress management and adrenal fatigue. For a long time, these practices didn’t fit well with my personality because it was challenging for me to slow down, switch off, and sit still. As a result, I felt even more anxiety when I attempted these activities which defeated the whole purpose.
I’m naturally high-strung and hooping helps me to feel more calm.
When I started hooping, I was pleasantly surprised by the way that these workouts put me in a calm, zen-like state. Even challenging and complex hooping skills encourage me to slow down and be calm enough to learn. I believe that my hooping practice has helped me to improve my ability to slow down and live in the moment. As a result, I am now able to practice yoga, meditation, and mindfulness when I want to. I also think that my problem solving skills have improved too (thanks to hooping)!
3-A fun and extremely gentle workout that doesn’t feel like work. Hooping is kind to your joints.
Hooping gives us the opportunity to gently get active and fit. It is a gentle entrance into the fitness world that you can easily enter without a serious background in working out, gymnastics, dance, or any other discipline. I like to refer to hula hooping as “the workout that doesn’t feel like work.” Because, when I’m hooping, I’m playing!
Hooping is a gentle way to get fit:
- Extremely gentle on the joints
- No pounding on the pavement
- Doesn’t require the repetitive movements that will constantly apply pressure on the same joints at the same angle with your bodyweight
I permanently traded in my running shoes / gear for pretty hula hoops and never looked back!
When I started hooping, I had a foot injury from running. I frequently got injured and nursing and recovering from injuries started to feel like a way of life. I thought that it was “just part of growing older” and normal wear and tear. Hooping made it possible for me to stay in shape when I was injured and I thought that it was going to be a temporary phase.
Instead, I felt so many amazing benefits from hooping that I permanently retired my running shoes / gear and switched to hooping instead. Hooping took the pressure off of me and I was able to stop counting calories and tracking my mileage. I was more present and enjoying the journey! This hooping adventure also helps me to break down the tension that I used to carry when I was more overweight. When I hoop consistently, I notice that the stiffness in my body and joints disappears.
The constant wiggling generates heat. This:
- Mobilizes the joints
- Increases the range of motion in all of the joints
- Can revive a tense and seized up body and bring it back to life!
Give your whole body and your joints a makeover with hooping!
Bee has been hooping for 15 years and she said that her joints have had a complete makeover. She now feels fitter, more flexible, and stronger than ever! This is my 2nd year of hooping and this is the longest that I have ever been injury free!
4- Hooping improves posture, balance, and alignment.
Hooping helps balance our alignment and establish equilibrium in our bodies. Most of us have a dominant (stronger) and non-dominant (weaker) side. This means that we have a tendency to favor one side over the other. For example, I am right-handed and I eat, rake, and sweep with my right hand. Mums often pick up their babies and rest them on the same side of their body each time (out of habit.) As a result, our preferred side becomes strong and dominant as it compensates for the weakness on the other side.
Favoritism can lead to imbalances and chronic pain.
Unfortunately, over time we can develop imbalances in the body that leads to chronic pain. Sometimes it can start with something as simple as a mild headache or tingly limbs. If you think that you may have imbalances in your body or your posture needs attention, you should give hula hooping a try! With hooping you cannot compensate and your weak side cannot get away with doing nothing. Your weaker side will have to start working and it will have no choice but to perform at the same intensity as your strong side. In this way, hooping can help you strengthen your weaknesses and fix imbalances.
5- You receive instant feedback from your hoop. Hula hooping can reveal your imbalances and show you what you need to strengthen.
- Your hula hoop is an excellent diagnostic tool.
- You receive instant feed back from your hula hoop the entire time.
- If one side is taking it easy, your hoop will tilt downwards on that side and lose momentum.
- While you are wiggling and playing, you are also fixing imbalances.
Hula Hoop = Personal Trainer!
When you are hula hooping, it is almost like a personal trainer is chasing you around and observing your form. Your hula hoop is like a coach. If you are taking it too easy and not generating enough momentum, your hoop will fall down. There is no time to chill and that is why hooping is an excellent cardio workout.
If you want to make a change and completely transform your physique and you need someone to keep their eyes on you, your hoop will tell you what to do. It’s simple, if you’re not doing it right, your hoop will fall down. Your hoop gives you instant feedback and keeps you working at the correct level of intensity (that will bring you the results you desire.)
Your hula hoop can improve your problem solving skills.
I personally think that a hula hoop is even better than a personal trainer. It will push you to problem solve and brainstorm while your creative juices flow. I love the way that my hoops teach me to focus on solutions rather than problems.
6- Boosts metabolism and builds lean muscle mass.
Hula hooping can boost your metabolism and help you build lean muscle mass, but the way that you hoop matters. For example, you can run for hours and hours, but you may break down your muscles rather than build them. Or you can workout for a shorter period of time, still get benefits, and build lean muscle mass. It is so healthy for your body to have strong, lean muscles. Exercise and lean muscle mass can improve your bone density and prevent injuries.
I used to run 5 – 13 miles 6 times a week, lift weights 5 times a week, and hula hoop everyday. I did lose weight, but I also lost hours of my day. Sometimes I would spend 3 hours working out and I started to worry that I wouldn’t get results because I couldn’t possibly do more than what I was already doing. Before long, I realized that I was overtraining and this was not sustainable. At the time, I could “swing it” because I work for myself and had nowhere that I needed to be, but I also felt very exhausted and grumpy.
I’m thankful that I figured out that I can spend a lot less time working out and still get wonderful results. I enjoy Bee Varga’s workouts because they are complete. She always includes a fun warm up and a challenging workout with conditioning, strength training, new skills, and a nice cool down. Click on this link to try her Sofa Spud to Hula Hottie course!
What are the benefits of Hula Hooping?
I’m thankful that I got such a comprehensive list of benefits that is specific to hula hooping! Check out Bee’s video to learn even more!
Conclusion
Are you a hula hooper? If so, what are your favorite benefits of hula hooping? Comment below to share! Are thinking about giving hula hooping a spin, but don’t know where to begin? I highly recommend Bee’s courses. Click on this link to start your journey today! Please comment below with your questions and thoughts. I would love to connect!
See you soon!
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